Begum Aga Khan

"The most powerful tool to lift families out of extreme poverty is to grant micro-loans to women."

"Charity begins in your own family. "Charitable spirits” mustn’t forget to keep their own slates clean, to address problems and inequities within their own four walls with decency and fairness before trying to make the world a better place. People who aren’t willing to do that are not sincere in their claim to benevolence."

"We must not forget that mankind depends largely on animals, therefore we have a responsibility for their welfare. If we destroy them — we destroy ourselves."

"If Western firms pay developing countries suppliers starvation wages in order to feed the Wests ever increasing consumer demand, can we call that ‘partnership’?"

"Tolerance" is not only the acceptance that people, as diverse they may be, have the right to be as they are and to live in peace together. Tolerance — in the context of business — is also the recognition that to get what you want, you have to give something in return."

"Business is globalizing so fast that it has led to the often quoted ‘clash of civilizations’. People simply have not had time to get to know and understand people of other cultures sufficiently to live and work in harmony."